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Brain's Weight Switch Found: May Let Us Eat What We Want, Finally (neurosciencenews.com)

submitted 1 year ago by will_a113@lemmy.ml to c/science@beehaw.org

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A new discovery reveals that astrocytes, star-shaped cells in the brain, play a key role in regulating fat metabolism and obesity. These cells act on a cluster of neurons, known as the GABRA5 cluster, effectively acting as a “switch” for weight regulation.

The MAO-B enzyme in these astrocytes was identified as a target for obesity treatment, influencing GABA secretion and thus weight regulation.

KDS2010, a selective and reversible MAO-B inhibitor, successfully led to weight loss in obese mice without impacting their food intake, even while consuming a high-fat diet, and is now in Phase 1 clinical trials.

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[–] naqahdah@my.lserver.dev 32 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Every time I see one of these weight loss miracles, I wait for the other shoe to drop... and it usually does.

As I have learned the hard way in my own life, the weight loss miracle is setting a calorie limit and strictly adhering to it (barring medical complications... which, let's face it, most of the people who say those cause issues with them losing weight probably don't have them).

The weight loss miracle I'm waiting on is the pill that rewires your brain to change your relationship with food because, man... that's the hard part. Having to constantly fight my own brain - no, you aren't hungry, you're bored; yes, you actually are satisfied eating a happy meal for 550 cals, you actually do not need a 2 cheeseburger meal large size at 1200 cals, and so on - that's the struggle for me. I'm down from 270 to 240 so far, but I'd be lying if I said it wasn't still a constant fight, which is probably what makes relapsing after taking all these drugs such a common thing.

[–] beefcat@beehaw.org 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

The weight loss miracle I’m waiting on is the pill that rewires your brain to change your relationship with food because, man…

This is what the new class of weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy do. They also appear to help curb other addictions like alcohol. But good luck affording them right now.

[–] naqahdah@my.lserver.dev 2 points 1 year ago

I had actually looked into that and yeah, because it isn't technically indicated for weight loss most insurance companies have dropped covering it barring severe medical need. Unfortunately, I'm like 80lbs overweight, and even having high blood pressure wasn't enough to drop the $300/no it would cost out of pocket.

It makes sense, I mean why cover $300/mo while I lose weight when you can cover my eventual six figure bypass and hospital stay, or roll the dice and hope I just die?

I did hear that there is some version of it that has (or is soon getting) approval for weight loss so... maybe!